Shanghai, July 10, 2020 – Microsoft China and innovative mobility company, Human Horizons, announced their strategic partnership to jointly develop an on-board AI assistant, HiPhiGo, for Human Horizons’ premium smart all-electric vehicles, HiPhi. HiPhi 1, the first product of the HiPhi brand, will reach small volume production by the end of 2020 and large-scale deliveries in 2021.
This announcement was made by Dr. Yongdong Wang, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, and Ding Lei, CEO and the founder of Human Horizons at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2020 Online Summit (WAIC 2020) held in Shanghai, China.
Combining AI-driven applications in a user-friendly manner is a challenge, which prompted a partnership with Microsoft to achieve Human Horizons ‘3 Smart’ strategic blueprint (Smart Vehicle, Smart Transportation, and Smart City).
The onboard AI assistant, HiPhiGo, will seek to enhance the connection between vehicles, cloud-based platforms, and user-centric services within the “vehicle-road-city” ecosystem. Microsoft was selected as a partner for its extensive technical expertise in computer voice and vision, natural language processing, and search engine database.
This includes Microsoft’s text to speech technology, based on deep neural networks, that is comparable to human speech. The application of such technologies will provide seamless and engaging human-machine interaction. The HiPhiGo AI assistant will also allow HiPhi to leverage mobility services across its entire portfolio, providing new services and solutions like in-car consumer experiences, telematics, and the ability to securely connect data between the car and its occupants.
AI will also play an important role in the development of new-generation information technology (IT), as deep integration of IT continues to converge with economic and social development.
“The strategic partnership with Microsoft will accelerate the development of our onboard digital AI assistant, HiPhiGo,” says Ding Lei, CEO and founder of Human Horizons and HiPhi.
“HiPhi, as a future-oriented innovative mobility company, and Microsoft, with its established technological expertise, are outstandingly well-matched. Together, we look forward to shaping the future of automotive mobility,” Ding continued.
As the next steps, Human Horizons and Microsoft are in discussion to establish a smart computing lab to further explore the integration of AI technologies for next-generation connected vehicles. Additionally, the two companies hope to further the collaboration and empower more customer-centric services of the brand.
Elaborating on the announcement, Dr. Yongdong Wang, Microsoft Corporate Vice President shared, “We are thrilled that HiPhi has chosen Microsoft. Human Horizons has profound experience in vehicle design, engineering, and vehicle intelligent systems. As Human Horizons and Microsoft join forces, we look forward to supporting the company with cutting edge AI technologies for the development of the vehicle, road and city ecosystem, and to reimagine the driving experience for people everywhere, together.”
About Human Horizons
Human Horizons is building on R&D for innovative and leading intelligent mobility technologies as well as the industrialization of future-oriented smart vehicles. Furthermore, Human Horizons builds smart transportation technologies, contributes to the development of smart cities, and will redefine mobility.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
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Top Image: Human Horizons’ premium smart all-electric vehicle, HiPhi. Credit: Human Horizons
